


A Fairytale in Paris

by Bronte



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Holiday Fic Exchange, Ice Skating, ML Secret Santa, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 06:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16718093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronte/pseuds/Bronte
Summary: Ivory sparkles twinkle along every sundrenched surface of Paris, the brilliant, sunny rays of light refracting off the snow that covers the sprawling plains of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Towering fir trees pepper the breathtaking scenery, casting unearthly shadows across the snowy dunes along the parterres and the intricate mulberry pathways. In the far-away distance, the frosted buildings of the city loom like motionless sentinels along the horizon, appearing to have been wistfully painted on the skies with pastel hues.Paris is snowed in, but not for them.An ML Secret Santa Fic





	A Fairytale in Paris

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Glober](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glober/gifts).



> Hello Glober! I was your ML Secret Santa! I haven't seen your name before but I hope you like this little piece of holiday writing. Enjoy!

 

Nadja Chamack  
@nadjachamackTVi   
Snow storm of the century in Paris! All Parisians ordered to stay inside until roads are cleared. Details to follow. 06:05 AM - 20 December 2018  1485  3698 

 

Mayor Bourgeois  
@BourgeoisParis   
@nadjachamackTVi Stay safe and warm Paris! Even essential services cannot run due to road conditions. We’re doing everything we can to get our city back on track!  06:14 AM - 20 December 2018  785  2384 

 

Ivory sparkles twinkle along every sundrenched surface of Paris, the brilliant, sunny rays of light refracting off the snow that covers the sprawling plains of the _Jardin du Luxembourg_. Towering fir trees pepper the breathtaking scenery, casting unearthly shadows across the snowy dunes along the parterres and the intricate mulberry pathways. In the far-away distance, the frosted buildings of the city loom like motionless sentinels along the horizon, appearing to have been wistfully painted on the skies with pastel hues.

Paris is snowed in, but not for them.

Trudging valiantly through the expansive park with a backpack strapped over his shoulders, Chat Noir absorbs the striking winter wonderland with wide, awestruck eyes; the sheer amount of snow alone is completely ridiculous to him, especially since Paris hasn’t had a proper snowfall in, well...ever. The roads are impassable, the doors and windows are blocked or frozen shut from the icy blast that essentially shut the city down entirely. No school, no work, no transportation...heeding the advice over the TV and radio, every Parisian had resolved to stay inside and ride out the winter storm.

But most Parisians aren’t like him.

He dips the tip of his glove into the thick layer of top snow as he walks past an embankment and flicks the little pile up into the air, watching as the tiny crystals reflect the bright sunlight like a disco ball. Ginning, he can’t help but fall helplessly in love with the scenery surrounding him; the sycamore trees, the watercolour clouds and the crystal blue skies are utterly breathtaking, like a perfect postcard painted just for him. He can feel his entire body thrumming with excitement as his spontaneous date idea draws ever nearer – but the real challenge would be getting his partner to join in on the fun.

“Almost there!” Chat calls out with elation, nearly soaring over the next snow drift with all the pent up enthusiasm of a boy on a mission. Ladybug doesn’t look particularly thrilled about her predicament but there’s nothing new about that; Ladybug _never_ looks delighted when he asks her to do something with him, but she begrudgingly does it most of the time which is why he always tries to make it worth her while.

A few metres ahead, Chat bursts through a thicket of emerald firs and staggers to a breathless stop; the most beautiful, picturesque, _romantic_ scene he’s ever dreamed of bursts like tendrils from his feet in every direction, sprawling for what seems like kilometres before his eyes. He gasps and soaks it all in eagerly, devouring every detail of the stunning gardens with his starving eyes as it steals his breath away.

_“Wow.”_

Ladybug plods out of the cluster of evergreens a moment later and collides with Chat, bumping lightly into his shoulder. Muttering a testy apology, she closes the gap between them and drags her blue eyes upwards, widening them in bewilderment.

_“Whoa.”_

Shoulder to shoulder, the two superheroes stand on the brink of a sprawling silver basin in the heart of the gardens, striking in the brilliant sunbeams that pour down from the skies. The ice is perfectly flawless; Chat can see his own astounded reflection in the sterling ice as if he were looking into a glass. There’s a bronze sculpture of saucy cherubs in the middle of the shallow pond that dazzles in the light and the snow banks that cover the concrete borders of the basin shimmer in a similar fashion, leaving both Chat and his partner utterly breathless.

“It’s beautiful,” Chat murmurs, his lips a little numb from it all. It feels like an understatement really, like comparing his Lady with anyone else. Nothing could possibly come close to her and nothing could possibly top this, a winter wonderland ripe for the taking, a perfect paradise just for them, “Do you want to try it out?”

Ladybug shakes her head, “I didn’t bring my power-ups with me. We can’t skate without them.”

“Which is why I brought these!” Chat responds eagerly, dumping the two pairs of skates he’d kept hidden in his backpack onto the ground, “Skates! For both of us!

“I don’t—”

“Come on!” Chat wriggles, hefting both pairs back into his hands and hopping from side to side, “It’ll be fun!”

Ladybug looks less than convinced, “You pulled me out into the cold for _this?”_

“Yes! It’s going to be awesome! We can finally have some fun together without fighting akumas all the time!”

“If this is your definition of fun, then I’d rather—”

_“Please?”_

Chat doesn’t like to beg very often. He’s afraid the effect it seems to have on her will wear out eventually, but he’s been planning this outing since the city shut down last night and he’d dreamt about it all night and he’s desperate, _desperate_ , to have a moment of respite with just the two of them together.

Ladybug heaves a world weary sigh, “Alright, but just for a few minutes.”

Chat whoops and leads her by the hand towards a small bench right at the rim of the sparkling pond. He sits down first and quickly kicks off his boots, enthusiastically sliding the skate onto his right foot before fastening the laces. Ladybug gives him an odd look and Chat just wriggles his toes in acknowledgement, “I didn’t realise the boots came off either, if that’s what you were wondering.”

“That’s exactly what I was wondering,” Ladybug tries her best to duplicate Chat’s actions but finds her fingers too frozen to comply, “Why do you get to have boots and zippers?”

Chat shrugs as Ladybug fumbles irritably with the laces, “I don’t know. I asked Plagg if I could take the boots off and...well, they come off now. I guess you just have to ask.”

“Huh,” Ladybug gives up on the first boot and shoves her foot into the other skate instead. Chat thinks she’s just ignoring him when she finally looks back up with a scowl.

“Need some help?” he asks lightly, getting up from his perch on the worn bench. He falters slightly as he takes a step forward in the blade bottomed boots and quickly rights himself on Ladybug’s shoulder, a casual touch so familiar with them that he thinks she hardly notices. He sits down upon the winter snow and takes one of Ladybug’s unlaced skate into his lap, tightening the laces near her freezing toes first before moving up towards her ankle, “Too tight?” Chat asks, glancing up at Ladybug with a lopsided smile; it’s the first time he’s tied anyone’s skates before and he’s curious to know if he’s doing it right.

“It’s fine,” Ladybug replies softly, wiggling her fingers in an attempt to free them from the numbing sensation that’s taking over. She watches Chat nod and finish tying the skate, taking the leftover laces and weaving a few more bows into the strings in order to keep her from tripping on them later. Ladybug’s eyes remain glued to his hands as Chat grabs the other skate and begins the same systematic process, the easy tuck and pull of the fabric against the hooks almost hypnotic. He peeks up at her through his bangs as he finally withdraws his fingers from her skates and gets to his feet, a triumphant grin plastered on his face.

“Come on!” Chat steps onto the ice and wobbles slightly, catching his balance with ease, “This will be a lot more fun without our ice superpowers.”

“More fun?” Ladybug asks incredulously, stepping onto the ice behind him. Gliding forwards, he turns around just in time to watch her eyes widen almost comically as the ground slides away from beneath her, gracelessly falling backwards onto her haunches.

“Ladybug!” Chat takes a few big pushes and slides towards his fallen partner, grimacing as Ladybug’s face turns an embarrassed shade of red. She attempts to clamber to her feet only to slip back onto her rear and she flips herself onto her knees instead, slamming one of her blades into the ice in a humiliated attempt to gain some leverage and climb back onto her feet.

“Here.”

A gloved hand materializes in front of her face and Ladybug follows the lines of Chat’s fingers up his arm to the golden glow of his hair in the sunlight, his eyes staring down at her with an apologetic half smile. Ladybug grabs his hand, albeit grudgingly, and heaves herself upright, steadying her balance on the sturdy presence at her side. She spreads her feet apart slightly and takes a wary step forward, still grasping onto him for support; she’s oblivious to his ridiculously giddy grin as she gains her ground, gripping onto him so she doesn’t go crashing down again. After a minute or two, Chat slowly lets go of her and observes as she finally gets the hang of it, taking larger and more confident strides across the frozen surface by using the inside edge of her blade to thrust forward with more momentum. Love struck, Chat fights to catch up after watching her skate away and bends his body low, taking slow, powerful strides like the ones he’d watched on YouTube.

“Got the hang of it now?” Chat asks, now keeping up with every push. He tries not to smirk as Ladybug keeps her eyes glued to the shimmering silver surface of the water, eyeing it suspiciously.

“I’d rather have my ice powers back,” Ladybug replies thinly, her voice barely carrying through the chilly air.

“That wouldn’t be half as fun,” Chat counters back, testing his balance before doing a little pirouette. Even with his enhanced abilities, skating as Chat Noir isn’t any easier than it is as Adrien, “Besides, now you can tell all your friends you went outdoor skating!”

“That wasn’t exactly on my bucket list,” Ladybug argues, feeling herself falter again. She reaches out and grasps onto the closest thing to her, holding on for dear life.

Chat snickers and gazes downwards at the gracelessly fumbling protector of Paris whose spotted legs had knotted beneath her, “I’ll help you. Hang on.”

Chat reaches his arm around Ladybug’s waist and hoists her upwards, propping her upper body against his own, determined to help the incapable skater get her legs again. Ladybug gathers her tangled limbs beneath her and steadies herself once more, murmuring a quick thank you before trying to move again.

“No problem,” Chat thanks his lucky stars as Ladybug spreads her legs further apart and shuffles forwards cautiously, still relying on Chat’s stability to keep her upright. She clings to him as they slowly venture forwards and Chat purposely ignores her uncharacteristic behaviour; he doesn’t exactly want to remind Ladybug that she’s clinging to _Chat Noir,_ the partner she continuously rebuffs for another boy. What if this is the best chance he has at getting close to her? He glances down at her and tries to ignore the burning in his cheeks at Ladybug’s determined expression, her tongue just peeking past her lips in a way that makes his knees weak with an emotion he’d never felt until she’d quite literally fallen into his life.

“I take it that you’ve never played any winter sports like this before?” Chat asks playfully, still clinging onto the girl of his dreams in hopes of keeping her on her feet. The question seems to jostle Ladybug out of her thoughts and she stumbles slightly, glancing up at the beaming boy holding her upright.

“No,” Ladybug replies through gritted teeth, keeping her eyes on the wayward ice with growing consternation.

“Do you play any sports at all?”

“No.”

Chat frowned slightly, “No sports at all? Really?”

“Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. We’re not supposed to talk about anything that could compromise our identities.”

“I’m not asking for your name,” Chat shakes his head, his golden hair catching the sunlight once again, “Knowing what sports we play could be a huge asset to both of us when we’re fighting akumas.”

“And what if I played a really obscure sport? Then you’d figure out my identity!”

Chat sighs, “Look, all I’m trying to say is that sports are good for you. They help you learn how to be part of a team and you learn how to rely on each other...you even learn how to build friendships with your teammates.

“Is this why we’re out here Chat? To work on being teammates?”

Chat pauses to consider, “Pretty much. You never want to hang out and talk anymore...I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

“First of all, I don’t want to hang out and talk on rooftops because it’s winter and it’s cold,” Ladybug explains, waving one arm out towards the wintery landscape, “And second of all, it’s because I’m busy. It’s almost Christmas and I’ve been spending all my free time making presents. It’s what I should be doing now, except I’m out here with you.”

“Oh.”

Chat skids to a halt and stares down at his feet, gently furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Ladybug grapples for balance at the sudden change in speed and quickly disengages herself, wobbling around to face him. He can’t exactly see what she’s doing since his heart has all but sunk to his stomach; no wonder she’s been so grouchy today! She was trying to make gifts for her friends and family when he’d begged her to come and meet him and he didn’t even ask her if she was busy...he had just expected her to drop everything for him for a ‘kinda date’ that he’d come up with on the fly and he was an idiot.

No wonder she didn’t want to hang out with him.

No wonder she liked someone else.

“I’m sorry.”

Ladybug sighs and shifts in front of him, “It’s fine.”

“No it’s not,” Chat breathes, finally looking up. Ladybug’s hands hang loosely at her sides, the muscles of her powerful legs twitching with energy and strength. Her face is strangely thoughtful and her eyes are soft, watching his closely; little plumes of warm air escape through the flushed arch of her parted lips, coiling into translucent phantoms before vanishing into the atmosphere. Chat watches the measured rise and fall of her chest and waits in abject torture in anticipation for the tongue lashing he’s about to receive.

“Like I said, it’s okay,” Ladybug says finally, a hint of a smile curling on her lips, “I guess I could have used a little bit of fresh air anyway.”

Chat’s chin jerks up as Ladybug glides towards him, coming to a stop in front of her stunned partner. She smiles at his confusion and cocked her head a little to the side, “Come on.”

Ladybug holds out her hand and Chat knits their fingers together cautiously, a perfect fit, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” she nods her head and tries to tug him along, “Now are you coming or not?”

Chat nods dumbly and lets her drag him away, his heart pounding in his ears. How could Ladybug forgive him so easily? What did he do to deserve someone as kind and as generous as her?

“And for the record, I do enjoy spending time with you,” Ladybug says after a beat, “It’s just that the holidays are a stressful time.”

“I understand,” Chat replies and thinks about his own pristinely wrapped gifts at home, “If I could help you, you know that I would. I’d help you with anything.”

Ladybug gives his hand a little squeeze, “I know and I’m thankful for that.”

“Good,” Chat turns to face her with the kind of smile that comes from the very bottom of his heart and he’s about to say something else when he trips over his toes and falls forwards, taking the heroine down with him. Ladybug lands on top and begins to laugh, swathed in the sunlight and his own elated giggles as they try and fail miserably to extricate themselves from each other. It’s silly and cold and perfectly ridiculous and Chat wouldn’t have it any other way.

A fairy tale in Paris. A story just for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!


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